Someone Like You
by ThatClutzsarahh
Summary: Sometimes it lasts, our love, but this time it seems to only hurt instead.
1. Chapter 1

**_I own nothing._**

_November 1974_

"Lily give that back," 14 year old Severus reached around Lily's robes for his potions book that she held behind her side in the long grass near the lake. Their homework was sprawled out in their laps between the two of them, quills tossed carelessly aside as Severus tried to wrestle the book back from her.

"What's this say?" she laughed lightly, "Property of the Half Blood Prince?"

"Lily," Snape whined. She smiled at him and tossed it back into his lap before reaching for her white feather quill.

"You think it's funny, don't you?" Severus said, a teasing look in his eyes. Quickly he reached around her sides and began tickling her, her legs flailing helplessly in the air, knocking their already spread out homework even farther out.

"Sev!" she screeched, "Sev stop!"

Ad quick as the tickling started, it stopped, with him reaching back to his essay as if they hadn't been doing anything at all. Lily took a few breaths to regain her composure before gathering up her papers for her essay and starting to write them again. She snuck a few looks at Severus's paper as she casually wrote on her parchment. She stole a few of his lines before he finally noticed her copying his work.

"How is your essay Lily?" he asked casually, carefully skirting his eyes over her paper.

"It's good," she said casually, hiding it from him a bit.

"Can we compare?"

Lily looked at Severus in the eyes, the green meeting black before she nodded and smiled at him.

"All right, so for the Aging Potion," Lily began, "You need to start with a bottle of ginger and some moonstone. Then you add a few unicorn hairs-"

"No," Severus said, "Not hairs, teeth. Ground unicorn tooth."

"Grisly," Lily murmured happily, scribbling down the ingredient into her essay. Severus watched her scribble it down in her essay, watching the sun reflect glittering strands of spun silk of her hair into his face. He so desperately wanted to reach out and touch it, but before he could stop that thought, he was doing exactly that, the strand twisting in his fingers.

"Sev-" she started, but trailed off as she watched him watch her hair, the fascinated look on his face made her blush and turn her eyes downward from his, watching her fingers twist in her lap. It was for a few seconds before he dropped the strand and went back to his essay.

"I think you're just copying me," he said after a while, a lopsided smile on his face. Lily shrugged.

"Maybe," she admitted without guilt, "You are the one who is going to get the good grade on this, not me. So if I just copied a little bit, maybe I'd get a better grade."

Severus shook his head. That logic was silly. "You, Lily Evans, have silly logic."

"You, Severus Snape, just don't understand my logic. It is perfectly good reasoning."

They smiled at each other once more, getting lost in each others faces before turning back to their parchments and writing away again. The day was perfect. The sun was casting long fingers of light over the black lake, the ripples jutting up and sparkling like tiny fields of diamonds before they crashed and broke apart on the golden grass in the late autumn weather. Here Lily and Severus sat, beneath a quiet wispy willow tree, finishing their assignment and laughing until sundown.

"Okay," Lily said as she slammed shut her book, "That's enough studying for one day."

Severus looked over at her, who- at that time- already flopped back into the grass and smiled.

"All right," he said, setting his book down next to him and laying back with her, his body shifted so he could face her.

"What are you doing for winter break?" she asked quietly.

"I'm staying here," came Severus's hard answer, "What about you?"

"Well," Lily started, "I was going to go home. But..."

"But?"

She turned her face to him and bit down on her lip in the adorable way she did when she was about to ask something insanely crazy that she _knew_ he would say no to.

"No," Severus said, knowing that look, "I know that look."

"I don't want to go home and deal with my sister all by myself!" she blurted out before she started laugh.

"No, no way," Severus said seriously, "You're just going to have to suck it up without me."

"Please!" she whined, "Please, please _please!"_

"I'm not going home to deal with my parents, Lily," he said sternly, "I wont."

Lily pouted for a moment and turned her head away to watch to the floating clouds sail above her in funny shapes. Severus, thinking the discussion was through, rolled onto his back and admired the sky as well, imperfect cotton balls floating away on the blue liquid above him.

"You could stay with me," Lily said so quietly that he wasn't sure he had heard her, "I can write my mum. You're parents don't have to know. You can stay in the guest room."

"Lily," Severus started, unsure how to decline the wonderful invitation.

"Don't say no," Lily whispered, and he turned his head to see her closer than she was before. Her big, beautiful green eyes where just inches from his face, and he almost lost his composure and let his black eyes slid to her lips, just a breath away from his. She stared intensely at him, knowing full well that he could never refuse her with that stare.

"If you're mum says no," he said, watching her face relax and break into a smile, "If she says it's not okay, you're on your own."

She rolled over a few more inches and threw her arms around his body in delight.

"Thank you Severus!" she said, face pressed into his chest. He wrapped an arm around her and inhaled her sweet scent from her hair. It was just for a moment before she broke away and stood up, dusting off her robes. He sat up and watched her gather her things in delight.

"Come on," she said with a lopsided smile, "It's getting late. It's probably dinner time."

She tossed his book onto his lap and he left out a loud huff as it knocked the wind from him. He set it aside and began gathering his things up as well.

"So," Severus said, "What _are_ the chances your mum will say no?"

"On a scale of 'yes I'd love to have him' to 'no'," Lily said with her back turned to him, "It'd probably be 'why didn't you have him over sooner!'"

Severus sent a book sailing her way and she ducked, dancing gracefully out of the way. He let a smile grace his face.

"You knew," he said, "You knew she wouldn't say no."

Lily shrugged and smiled at him, handing the book he threw back and stuffing her parchment into her books.

"Well," she said, "It was the only way I'd get you to come home."

Snape shrugged on his robes straight and grabbed the last book. It rested next to a small flower that was still in full bloom in the grass. Severus picked it from the grass and spun, approaching Lily in two large strides.

"Severus," she said, watching as he placed the flower behind her ear and pulled back his hand. He smiled at her before grabbing her wrist and starting back toward the castle.

"Come on," he said, "We're going to be late for dinner."

Lily followed, pulling her wrist from Severus's grasp and jumping onto his back, causing him to stumble under the sudden weight change but stand up again and continue up toward the castle.

The sun was just setting on them as they reached the stone arch-windows, beautiful colors painting the grass and across the now stilled water of the black lake. Severus carried Lily all the way up the steep hill to the school before setting her down and looking back the golden hues that were slowly darkening as night fell. Never had the day been more beautiful in his eyes.

"Sev?" Lily asked when he had stopped. She slid her hand into his and he curled his fingers around hers.

"Coming," he answered, and he turned his head back to face her beautiful smile and green eyes once again.

* * *

><p>Many many years later, Snape relives the memory, pulling it from his mind and placing it in a tiny little vial, the silver string bouncing up and down inside as he watches it before capping it and placing it away on a shelf in his parents old home on spinners end. He places it up and away, shutting the cabinet carefully and turning his back away. The vial glows for a moment before it turns dark and joins the rest of the vials in long cabinet, bursting full of Lily's memories.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the reviews, they mean so much to me! With that said, here is the next chapter, I hope you like it. Tell me what you think, please :)**

Oh Simple Thing

_Why don't we go talk about it somewhere only we know?_

_June 1977_

The moonlight filtered in through her bedroom window, casting a thin wisp of light over the small twin bed. Severus was side awake, laying on his back, staring up at the soft pink ceiling. He was awake, not asleep yet and he could tell it was very late in the evening. Lily, despite the fact that she was somewhat made at him, allowed him to stay over again this June. He knew what she thought of him and it made him hurt.

He knew that she knew he was leaving. Hogwarts was over. This summer, this month would be their last together. Lily knew this, which is the only reason she allowed him here. While she slept soundly in the room across the hall, he lay awake and think about how he wished he could change things. Because here, in the quiet of her guest room, he felt like a large monster, hiding in the closet.

The Dark Lord has called him. He had answered the call. Lily would never understand, he figured, and there was no way he could explain to her why he made the choice he did. In reality, if she had asked him, he would have gladly turned away and into her grasp. But she had not asked, she had not demanded and now he had to go. But he had this month left. This month to show her that the word that passed his lips a year ago are not what he thought of her. He had tried so many times to tell her that he was sorry, to prove it. And for the moment it seems, she has let her tight grip loosen for a moment. But only for a moment.

In the dead of night, Severus heard the door open down the hall, followed by soft thumps of shoes in a patterned step that belonged only to Lily. He waited as he heard her sliding door open and shut before he got up and moved to the window in time to watch her creeping out into the field and toward the trees behind their houses. He knew exactly where she was going.

Waiting a few minutes, he too stood up and dressed silently before creeping down the stairs and out into the crisp night air. He grabbed his sweater hanging on the coat by the door and tossed it over his shoulder for her. She had, after all, gone out without a jacket.

Lily had wandered down by the lake, wiping her face with the back of her hand, shoving her fingers into her jean pockets. Life was so complicated. With Severus slept soundly in the room next to hers, she had laid awake in the night, watching the moon cast longer and longer shadows on the wall. Finally she couldn't take it and stood up, dressing for the one place she knew she could think straight.

Sometimes she wished she could just tell Sev how she felt. How she wanted to beg him to stay here with her, in this tiny muggle house and play happily ever after with her forever. But she knew he would never agree to that. He had already signed away his life to a man he'd never meant, the dark lord. He'd chosen his way, and she had chosen hers. Their paths would never cross again. And the thought made her heart ache painfully in her chest.

In the crisp night air, Lily wandered between the trees, stepping carefully over the worn path she would make to the hidden lake. It was their secret spot, underneath the old willow tree, and they would lay for hours there as children, talking, playing, imagining a life together as friends. Even now, after everything that has happened between them, Lily still wished for that life, a happy life together, wrapped forever in his arms. But she'd never admit that aloud.

He didn't know it, but Lily had fancied him for a long time.

Sometimes, she get really brave and walk straight up to him to tell him, but he'd smile at her and she'd stopped her thought. She'd miss the smile if it didn't work out. And even after he called her that horrid name, the insult that made her heart bleed dangerously, she still wanted to tell him. Lily had always loved Sev, but she wasn't always _in love_ with Sev.

But that was the only rational explanation to why she kept him around, even after all the awful things he'd said and horrible things she'd done. She just wanted him to _notice_.

Severus watched Lily as she rearranged the stars above her. She lay beautifully underneath the willow tree, the grass touching her skin perfectly. He had stopped just past the tree line, still able to dart away if he so wanted to and still able to continue forward if she allowed. He watched her align the gold slivers into patterns before she waved them back to their place. He watched her face and noticed the tiniest drop of moisture sliding down her cheek, right before she rolled over on her side so that he could no longer see her. _Always the strong one_, Severus thought as he approached. She would never allow him to see her cry.

He sat down in the moist grass next to her and stared out at the lake. He felt her stir next to him, to look over at him, but he didn't move. She would reach out to him if she wanted him. He would always want her. When her gaze on his face became to intense he turned and looked at her, looked at her big green eyes and smiled.

"Hey," he said, his voice smooth and soothing.

"Hi," she answered in her quiet tone. Severus reached up and brushed back an unruly strand of hair from her face. She blushed and ducked her head away, staring down at the wet grass smashed between them.

"Sev-" she started quietly, catching his attention, "Sev, I'm sorry.

There was a long pause.

"For what, Lily?" he asked, looking at her, "You've done nothing wrong.

"Still," she said, her voice choking, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he answered, reaching for her. She snuggled up next to him as he conjured up tiny little lantern bugs. They sat peacefully in silence as they weaved between the willow branches, moving them so slightly and snuggling around the green leaves. The peace and calmness in the air was stilling and Severus watched the the lake ripple quietly.

"I wish," Lily said after a long silent pause, "I wish I could save you."

Severus frowned. "No one can save me."

"Not even me?"

He looked down and into her perfect eyes, the color waiting for him, big green pools of peacefulness. RIght then, right there he wanted to say _only you can save me_, but he couldn't. He could not ruin the moment.

"I'm sorry," he said instead, "For everything."

Suddenly, she reached for his right arm. He hadn't even registered her movements until she was pushing back the sleeve.

"How could have sold your life away to a man you don't even know," she had been saying as she was rolling up the sleeve, "And he's branded you like-"

When the smooth, creamy expanse of his forearm was revealed, unmarred by any death mark, Lily's words stopped. She looked up into his eyes, wide with understanding and her mouth fell open, her pink lips puffy small white puffs of cold air into his face.

"There's still time," she whispered, and she almost let the words she'd been holding back spill forward, her secret desires to be with him for forever spilling from her lips. She was imagining his pleasant reaction, a fiery passionate kiss or a slow butterfly soft one that he responded with. But none of these things happened. Only silence did.

Severus took his arm from her gently and cupped her face, his thumb stroking her cheek. He wanted to tell her that there would _always _be time for them, if she just asked-

"Lily," he whispered, bringing his other hand to her hair.

"Please Sev," she begged lightly, "You don't have to do this. Stay here, with me. We can hide. No one has to know-"

Severus's lips formed into a soft smile as he twisted a strand of hair around his long pale fingers. Carefully he leaned forward, and Lily thought that maybe, just maybe he was going to kiss her. Instead, he rested his forehead against hers. He was close enough to count the dusted freckles on her face, close enough to see the reflection of himself in her shimmering eyes.

"We're out of time," he said softly, "Besides, we were never meant for each other anyway."

Lily looked into his black eyes, so deep with so much emotion and touched his face in return, inhaling his perfect scent.

"You're wrong," she answered quietly.

Severus smiled.

"I always am, aren't I?"

Lily laughed and relaxed in his arms. Lightly, so that she wasn't even sure if he did it, he kissed the top of her head as she relaxed into his grasp. And they lay there together, watching little lantern creatures nestle in the trees. And to her it was almost paradise.

To him, it would forever be heaven.


End file.
